1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monitoring and tracking, and particularly to a system and method for tracking people in large crowds, such as during the Hajj pilgrimage.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca to be performed at least once in a Muslim's lifetime. The Hajj is performed within a six-day period each year within designated boundaries inside the city of Mecca. Over 2.5 million pilgrims visit Mecca each year, the pilgrims all congregating within a relatively small region. An additional 4 million visitors come to Mecca at other times of the year. During this time, a number of visitors to Mecca are, instead, attempting to obtain employment and stay in Saudi Arabia illegally. Due to the overwhelming crowd visiting Mecca during this time, it is nearly impossible to regulate all of the visitors to prevent acts of illegal immigration.
It would be of great benefit to authorities to be able to track visitors during the Hajj. Although visual tracking, the use of checkpoints, increased numbers of police officers and officials, and other conventional crowd control methods are presently used, the sheer number of visitors to Mecca within such a small region makes such supervision relatively ineffective. Thus, a system and method for tracking people solving the aforementioned problems is desired.